


Across The Line

by Jaakkola



Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Armor, Emotions, Gentle Kissing, Goodbyes, M/M, Memories, Morning After, Photographs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-19 17:16:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22648354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaakkola/pseuds/Jaakkola
Summary: The war is over, and it's time for the Alliance to leave Kul Tiras. Shaw and Flynn spend one last morning together.Alternatively titled "1.7k Words of Shaw Getting Dressed and Then Some Other Stuff Too"
Relationships: Flynn Fairwind/Mathias Shaw
Comments: 3
Kudos: 56





	Across The Line

**Author's Note:**

> Y'all as fucked up over that "lost loves" thing as I am? Because that entire thing is fucking me up, and it's been days. I'm properly ruined.

It was a morning that Shaw didn't want to come. He was warm in Fairwind's arms and his bed, the other man sound asleep beside him, a soft rasp to his breathing. Shaw sighed, dawn was not far off from the blue gray color of the sky, and he'd need to get up before the sun rose. He took a moment to relish this, the peaceful moment probably the most he'll get for a long while. He pulled away to get a good look at Fairwind's face in the lowlight, seeing the rather inelegant expression of head thrown back, mouth agape. A fond smile crossed Shaw's face, and then he pulled away further, out of Fairwind's arms and from the bed.

Shaw stretched, listening to the creaks of his joints as he tried to relieve some of the ache in his bones. He rubbed at his chin with a yawn as he looked over the captain's quarters. Fairwind's clothes were tossed all over from the night before, while Shaw had at least managed to get them all in a pile. He pulled on his smallclothes first, moving with the gentle sway of the ship to make sure he didn't lose his balance when he put on his pants.

Like always, he fought with the high collar of his shirt when he put it on for far longer than Shaw cared for, but in reality, any amount was far longer than Shaw cared for. The good half minute it took to straighten it out frustrated him to no end. Once that was taken care of, he rolled his shoulders and retrieved the leather chestpiece that rested across his shoulders. It was a unique piece of armor, which really just meant it was uniquely difficult. After years of practice every morning, Shaw had gotten good at putting it on, but even then it still took a few minutes of fighting with it.

Fairwind stirred as Shaw was strapping his hidden daggers to his person. "Morning already?" He asked, his sleep-heavy voice tapering off into a yawn.

"Not quite yet," Shaw replied.

"Does that mean we have time for a round two?"

Shaw was turned away from Fairwind, the only hint to his actions being the creaking of the bed as he shifted his weight. Shaw shook his head. "I'm already halfway dressed."

"C'mon, that's never stopped you before."

"I need to be on the ship before the sun's up, Fairwind."

Fairwind sighed, but relented. "You Stormwind lads and your lack of fun."

Shaw didn't respond to the comment, grabbing his shin guards and retreating back to bed. He sat on the edge of the bed to pull them on, Fairwind taking the opportunity to press kisses along Shaw's lower jaw. It did little to distract Shaw, now focused on getting the shin guards on without pulling the pant legs up. If there was a trick to this, he hadn't found it over the past five years. "Something bothering you?" Fairwind mumbled into Shaw's skin.

"Just have a lot to do when I get back."

"Thought the war was over, what more could they ask for you?"

Shaw thought for a moment as he began working the second shin guard. "The situation is precarious in regards to the Old Gods. King Anduin expects information, and that's ultimately my job."

"What's the issue, then?"

Shaw reached over to grab his boots from the bedside. "This isn't like going undercover within the Horde for information or stealing important documents from a secure location," he explained as he pulled them on, "I'm working off of no leads and expected to find the location of a creature that lived in the bottom of the sea for all we knew of it."

"Well, it's a good thing the sea isn't the biggest thing on Azeroth then, isn't it?" Flynn asked with a grin. Shaw found himself smiling along. "I'll ring up the Tidemother and see if she's heard anything for you."

Shaw let out a snort. "If _you_ could contact the Tidemother, I think you'd put the entire Monastery out of a job."

"Well, it's real easy for us sailors," Fairwind said, barely able to contain his glee, "especially sailors that worked on fishing boats before, because you can just drop a line."

Shaw pushed Fairwind away as soon as the wordplay registered with him, and Fairwind erupted into a fit of proud giggles. "That was terrible," he said, which only made Fairwind laugh harder. "I cannot believe you actually said that."

"That was a good joke!" Fairwind yelled back, and Shaw responded by grabbing the pillow and hitting Fairwind with it.

"You're a _child,"_ Shaw retorted as he stood. He retrieved the corsetry of his armor, and it took until Shaw was tightening the laces for Fairwind's laughter to die down. Shaw spared him a glance once as he caught his breath. His glee was so infectious it should have been damnable, making Shaw just shake his head as he did his best to suppress his smile.

"How long you gonna be at this for?" Fairwind asked, his tone still light as he tried to properly calm down.

"Few months, most likely." Shaw responded as he tied the knot for his corset, moving on to the straps of his tassets.

"Really? A few months?" Fairwind repeated. "No time to squeeze something in in-between all that?"

"This is all apart of my job," Shaw said as he fastened his belt, "I've actually been rather fortunate with how the war worked out where we could have as much time as is." It was not a great answer, but it was the reality of the situation. He could see Fairwind's disappointment across his face in the dim light, and added as he retrieved his pauldrons, "I'll send word as soon as my schedule clears up a bit."

The pauldrons were always difficult. They hooked into Shaw's shirt, and it took some great finesse skills to get them secured. "Your armor is ridiculous, by the way."

"You say that every time you wake up with me."

"And I'll keep saying it until your armor changes."

"I'll let the High King know of your complaints."

Fairwind let out a cackle and finally got out of bed. Shaw watched him search for his smallclothes as Shaw attempted to blindly hook the other pauldron in. "Where the bloody..." Fairwind muttered under his breath, looking around. He managed to find them and his pants, pulling them on as Shaw worked on hooking the second pauldron into place. "Where'd you put my belt?"

"Shouldn't be far from the bed," Shaw said.

Fairwind crossed over to the bed, holding his pants up with one hand and bending down to look underneath. He made a noise of success, and there was the sound of the belt buckle dragging across the floorboards. "Found it!" He exclaimed.

"Good to hear."

"Hey, it's not like you needed to take it from my pants in the first place."

"Perhaps if you stopped being so obstinate in bed, it wouldn't be an issue."

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?" Shaw sighed as he finally managed to hook his pauldron in. He turned to find Fairwind's eyes on him with an inexplicably fond expression across his face. "I'm going to miss bothering you, y'know," he said.

"I'm sure you'll manage to find another way to pass the time," Shaw said.

"Yeah, but it won't be the same."

Shaw didn't have a proper answer, because how did one respond to something like that? He instead looked away, finding his gloves on Fairwind's desk. Fairwind's footsteps towards him, heavy across the planks, and Shaw made the conscious effort not to tense up when Fairwind pressed against his back. He first put his head on Shaw's left pauldron, didn't seem pleased with it, attempted to wedge himself in the small space between Shaw's pauldron and his neck, failed to do so, and then reached his fingers underneath the pauldrons.

"Captain," he said, long-suffering.

Fairwind shushed him.

Shaw waited a bit as Fairwind attempted to undo the hooks clasping the pauldrons to Shaw's armor. After a minute or so of fidgeting, Shaw turned his head towards him. "Do you need some assistance, Captain?"

Fairwind shushed him louder as he thumbed at the hook. Shaw looked away, leaning his head to the right as Fairwind muttered a curse under his breath.

"Take your time," Shaw continued with his patient tone, "I don't need to be anywhere anytime soon."

"I don't need this from you," Fairwind said, and Shaw turned away to hide his smirk. It took another minute of dedicated focus on Fairwind's part to get his pauldron unhooked, and Shaw could nearly feel Fairwind's beaming at his minor, but well-fought victory. With a proud flourish, Fairwind pulled Shaw's pauldron off, tossed it onto the desk, and rested his chin on Shaw's shoulder.

Shaw pulled on his gloves. "You're putting that back on me."

Flynn snorted as he wrapped his arms around Shaw. "Then you're going to need to tell Wyrmbane that you'll be running late."

Shaw only hummed, leaning his head against Fairwind's. Another quiet moment to enjoy before life went back to nothing but precarious situations ready to topple over, ciphered reports, and long sessions of strategizing deployments. There was another world-ending threat looming overhead, and yet, within the walls of this ship, there was only the two of them.

Stolen moments that Shaw shouldn't have, in the end.

"I should get going," Shaw said after a long stretch of silence. "Wyrmbane will not be pleased if I'm the reason we're behind schedule."

Fairwind made a mild noise of protest, but did pull away. As cocky as the man was, he knew getting on the wrong side of the High Commander of the Alliance would do him no favors, even if they were departing today.

Shaw went about his task of putting his pauldron back on as Fairwind moved behind him. It took him less time than it took Fairwind to take it off, but it still wasn't as quick as Shaw would have liked. Once fastened and back in place, he turned to Fairwind, finding a somber look across his face. It didn't fit his sunny and high-spirited nature. "I'll send word as soon as I have the time," he repeated.

"Here." Fairwind pulled at his necklace, tugging it over his head. It drew his long hair around to one shoulder, clutching the seashell in one hand. He crossed the pace that separated them, ducking his head low for a kiss as his free hand took one of Shaw's. He pulled at Shaw's fingers, pressed his necklace into Shaw's palm, and folded his fingers back over it. They parted, and Fairwind pressed his forehead against Shaw's and mumbled his words. "So you don't forget me."

"I'm not sure I could forget you even if I wanted to, Fairwind."

Fairwind grinned. "Well, then I'll want this back when I next see you."

The simple action made Shaw's heart ache something indescribably fierce. He bowed his head and pocketed the necklace, finding his voice long enough to say, "I'll keep it safe."

"I know you will."

Shaw was decidedly too old to have his heart feel like this at a simple departure. A bittersweet ache where he seemed to already be missing Fairwind with his strange gestures and declarations. Light help him, heading back to Stormwind may have been harder than he initially thought it would be.

The first light of the day began to peak up from above the horizon, coloring the sky in warmer colors. "I should get going, before I'm missed," Shaw said in a low voice.

Fairwind squeezed Shaw's upper arm, below his pauldron. "Don't get in over your head," he said in a somber tone. "Old God business is nasty business, so I hear."

While it was hardly his first time dealing with 'Old God business,' Shaw had to admit that dealing with cultists and a lieutenant of them was a bit different than this circumstance. "I wouldn't worry," he decided on.

"Gonna stop this bastard all by yourself, are ya?" Fairwind said with a far too cheeky grin and a teasing tone, pulling his hand away from Shaw so he could cross his arms.

Shaw paused to look over with a paired frown and glare, and Fairwind's smile widened in response. Shaw's annoyance dissipated with a heavy sigh, and as he moved to the door, he continued with, "the chances I'm out in the field and immediate danger is incredibly low. I'll be fine."

"Good," Fairwind nodded as Shaw opened the door. "watch your back out there."

Shaw looked over his shoulder, giving one last look to the man that was Flynn Fairwind. "Likewise, Captain."

* * *

Shaw wasn't aware how much he missed Stormwind until he was within its walls once again. The cobblestone and canals would always be home, and walking across the way into the SI:7 building filled him with some underlying sense of relief he wasn't aware he needed. Unfortunately, the sight of Renzik waiting for him outside the door didn't keep the relief going for long.

" 'Ey boss," the goblin said. "How was the boat life?"

"Let's just say I'm glad to be back," Shaw said in a simple surmising of his surface thoughts. He gave a nod to Jasper Fel as he and Renzik walked to the stairs. "How's things been since I've been away?"

"Syndicate being brave up north, but you already knew about that," Renzik listed off. "Darnassus refugees have been getting antsy, and Greymane's kid asked for you on behalf of the Uncrowned few days ago."

"About what?"

Renzik shrugged. "Didn't ask, I knew I wouldn't get an answer."

Shaw made the mental note to seek out Tess. He didn't have the time to make the trek out to Dalaran, especially if it wasn't pressing. "Did you get my missive?"

"Yeah, pulled everyone on low to mid priority jobs back to get reassigned. Speaking of, do we have any trails to go off of for this?"

Shaw sighed. "I'm afraid not." He took a moment to think, going with his gut feeling on what to do. "Deploy agents to where the first three Old Gods were, have them watch the area for any activity. If we're to find this city, we might find some hints within their old domains." Shaw paused. "Did you pull the ones on assignment watching the Horde?"

"Only a few that I thought would be more useful tracking this down."

Shaw stopped in front of his office door. "I trust your decision; make sure those positions are filled again, however. The last thing we need is the Horde handing us another surprise."

"You got it, boss." Renzik nodded, starting on his way before stopping a few paces out. He turned back to Shaw. "Oh, almost forgot. The kid's been... well, acting more like his father lately."

That was, by far, most troubling information Renzik had supplied him with today, so much so that Shaw initially thought he misheard the goblin. "What?" King Anduin's similarities with his father rarely went past their jawline.

"He's been..." Renzik trailed off as he tried to find the right words. "Speaking through gritted teeth more often, if you catch my drift."

It seemed so ridiculous, it was almost laughable, and yet, Renzik lying to him about something as trivial as the current mood of the king was even more far-fetched. Shaw was positive his disconcertment showed in his frown.

Renzik continued as he headed back down the hall, "maybe the stress of it all is finally getting to him, I don't know."

Shaw opened the door to his office as he thought over this new information. Stress was one thing, but Anduin was rarely short with people, regardless of how difficult things have been. One would be hard pressed to find a time where the young king wasn't the most patient man in the Keep. He closed the door behind him as he thought, coming to no conclusions and only more concerns.

Shaw sat down in his office chair and pulled the middle drawer of his desk open. He filed away his current concerns for later, glancing over the few missives sitting ready on his desk for his reading, and putting them too on his mental to-do list for later. For now, he allowed himself a brief moment of respite before diving into work.

He reached into the drawer, fingers finding the back wall and pushing lightly on the top right corner. In his careful and deliberate movement, the false panel in the drawer moved out of place, and he pulled it away. There wasn't much that Shaw had stored away in his desk–he wasn't much for sentimental mementos–but there were still a few things he couldn't part with, hiding them within his desk for safekeeping.

A letter from his grandmother, one of his mother's throwing knives, and a red bandana were nestled behind the false panel, along with a photograph. Shaw pulled the photograph and let both fond and bittersweet emotions fill him as he looked it over.

It was a test of a new gnomish device, able to capture the image of whatever it was pointed at. King Varian had taken an interest in the methods of the Stormwind's Assassin Guild during that time, leading it to become SI:7 not long after the photo was taken. Taken during the reconstruction of Stormwind after the second war, Shaw was far more youthful back then, facial hair still a bit patchy, eyes bright–if a bit tired, and an open and broad smile across his face as he stood on the right. It seemed uncharacteristic of him now, and Shaw never knew if he should chalk it up to the fact that young Mathias didn't know the sacrifices his job would have him make or not.

On the left side of the photo stood Edwin, his iconic crimson red bandana around his neck, his dark hair pushed back and coated in a layer of sawdust and grime. He had always wore the side effects of hard labor well, Shaw thought, and something in his chest clawed with ferocity with that. Edwin's smirk was a thin line, but his eyes smiled as wide as Shaw did.

In the middle, with arms wrapped around both Edwin and Shaw, was Baros. His death hit Shaw harder than Edwin's did, mostly because there was no justification Shaw could tell himself about it. While Edwin's death was necessary for the security of Stormwind, Baros' was a tragedy; he sacrificed himself for a woman he cared for out in Draenor, one he never got to spend time with. Now he only lived on in the memories of others, his beaming grin only recorded on the piece of strange paper in Shaw's hands.

Shaw pulled Fairwind's necklace from his pocket, running his thumb along the seashell ridges in an idle moment. He let out a quiet sigh and pressed his eyes closed, giving himself one last moment of emotional reflection, before putting the photo and Fairwind's necklace back into the drawer. He replaced the false back, closed the drawer, and got started on his work.

**Author's Note:**

> TURALYFUN  
> I have a sophisticated headcanon of Shaw, Edwin, and Baros all being good friends before Tiffin's death
> 
> TURALYFUN  
> There’s a picture of the three from before hidden away somewhere within SI:7 and that’s my headcanon thank you goodnight.


End file.
